Help with my 1st Furniture project

you could always stop by Craig’s House of Fine Woodworking for some friendly advice. They have plenty of plans, semi-expert advice, and tools galore that no one was mastered. :)

do you want my mortise machine and tenon jig this weekend?? we can bring those both on Friday.

-- cpernisi

Hey Randy
I would say that Maple looks the most like cherry when finished, but if that doesn’t work go with what you can afford. That’s experience does is help not be afraid of messing up . But how do you get experience ? you go for it and it you mess up you find ways a way to fix it or remake the part that was messed up. you can make a practice piece out of inexpensive wood even 2×4s just for practice. Then make the real piece. The Design you can search on line or look at retail outlets you like IKEA and make one of their designs work for you.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Of you wood choices I would go for the red oak. Red oak has a lot of open pores and you may want to fill them with a wood grain filler which takes some extra time but particularly on the top of the table it will produce a nice smooth finish. It may be hard to find in stores but most mail order catalogs seem to have it. It is like a paste you wipe on the fill the pores. Follow the instructions carefully or you may do a lot of extra sanding. Getting a good cherry color stain may take some experimenting with various stains or combination of stains (on scraps).
Both woods can have some bold grain if flat sawn so try to get quarter sawn pieces for the top to get a nice appearance.
I looked at your other posted projects and I’m sure you can do this one. I guess if you mess up and don’t like the results you can cut the legs shorter and use if for a bench (-:

-- Les B, Oregon

Here is a web site that has posted pics of various woods using various MinWax stains. I am not advocating the use of Minwax, but this will give you an idea of the colors you can get using Oak, Maple, Cherry, etc…

Stain Comparison

-- Rich, WNY, www.nyrockingchairs.com

Poplar is a very good wood for Finishing to look like any other wood you almost want…
... TransTint to stain / match the color you wish… followed by top coats…

Shellac
Poly
Lacquer

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Thanks for your replies. I bought enough red oak to satisfy my project. I plan on building a table 20” deep by 48” wide with either 2 or 4 drawers. I am still going back and forth on this. It will be 36” high. I cut and glued up the boards for the top today. The best part is, I purchased the wood on craigslist for $40.00. It was leftover wood from a remodel project. It had a lot of mitre cuts and most of the salvageable part was only 2” wide (but some were 4” wide), but I should be able to complete my table with this $40.00 purchase and still have some left over. I am excited to be able to try an indoor project on a small budget

-- Randy, Allen Texas

To cpernisi: MY SON IN LAW….I love your explanation ” semi-expert advice, and tools galore that no one was mastered”. You are GREATNESS. For those of you out there, we have a WONDERFUL skill, tools, whatever rivalry. I could not ask for a better son in law.

-- Randy, Allen Texas

i dont know if you have a sprayer or access to one but as far as finish goes i spray all my projects. i use deft lacquer on everything. 2 coats sanding sealer thinned no more than 20%,2 coats high gloss for duribility, thinned no more than 20%, topped off with one coat which ever sheen you prefer. i sand in between each coats very lightly with 320 or 00 steel wool , . and then finishing sanding with 0000 steel wool then top it off with some liquid gold. makes a real durable, slick finish.

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

Ronnie…Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to try it. I have never used Deft, but went online and checked it out. Sounds good to me.

-- Randy, Allen Texas

Ronnie…

”then top it off with some liquid gold. makes a real durable, slick finish”.

Where do you find Liquid Gold?

I used to use Deft way back when… I guess it’s still good!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Here are some pictures of my progress. The top is glued up and the table legs are cut and tapered. The legs are 1.5” at the top. I went 16” down and then began the taper. It is tapered to 1’ at the bottom. They are tapered on 4 sides. I used my table saw and Incra Mitre 1000SE to make the tapers, along with a LOT of ‘thinking’ and asking “will this work?” Pictures posted on Photobucket:
http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/ralmand/Office%20Table/?albumview=slideshow

-- Randy, Allen Texas

I know I can get Liquid Gold at my local Grocer…just never used DEFT…but I will try it

-- Randy, Allen Texas

You’re kidding about the Liquid Gold… right?

Your slideshow is very nice… you’re getting there!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

Joe…I am not kidding. It is polish, restorer, whatever you wish to call it. It is similar to Olde English. Kroger sales it, as does my local Lowes. Thanks for the kind word about the slideshow. I am trying to get there. I have NEVER built a piece of furniture. I am doing this one to suit my need and space. I am designing as I go. Hope it turns out as I envision.

-- Randy, Allen Texas

OK, so it’s in the wax family… will have to get some & try it! :)

Thank you!

On your table… just take you time and Dry Fit all the time to be sure you’re OK…

Do not RUSH it…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

sorry im a little late, i meant the deft makes a real durable slick finish, without the use of filler. the liquid gold is only to restore that small amount of luster that the final #0000 steel wool sanding takes off. you can get liquid gold at lowes or walmart. it truly is liquid gold.. as far as the project, i agree just take your time, this will be a great learning experience. oh and on that deft, your first coat of sanding sealer should be heavy (wet looking) enough without sags or runs, then just light coats on the rest, and when you sand with the 320 stay away from any edges and hit it extremely lightly, just knock the roughness off, you’ll feel what im talkin about . good luck to ya and if you got any questions feel free to ask

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

Ronnie….by using your ‘recipe’. does it darken the color any? What I have found on Deft is that it is not a stain. I want to darken the color slightly. I do have an HVLP Sprayer and am going to use some test pieces first, but before buying Deft I want to understand exactly what it is/does. Thanks!

-- Randy, Allen Texas

Red oak typically does not have a blotch issue.

Unless you are using Deft’s pro line of finishes I can not say that Deft it is very good. I would step up to the pro line or use Sherwin’s pre-cat lacquers T77-F37 or MLCampbell’s MagnaMax.

These are self sealing lacquers but you may use a sanding sealer.

I cannot think of any finish or sanding sealer that should go on heavy except for gym floor or bar top epoxy finishes.

Most people make finishing harder than it needs to be, let the product do the work for you.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

no it generally lightens the color maybe a shade, not enough to notice.i have heard of adding small amounts of stain to the laquer to darken it but i have never tried this. i always try to get my color with mixing stains. for example if i want that golden oak look with a darker grain i will use golden oak let it dry then follow lightly with a provincial or dark walnut, sometimes i just mix the stains together until i get the color im looking for. i would get the color exactly what i want with the stain and then seal and laquer it. IF your usining any red oak plywood i would highly reccomend using a wood conditioner because it will blotch on you, but the solid wood will not. once you try this on a test piece you will see how easy this process really is. good luck

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

I would say a really admirable first attempt at making a table I take my hat off to you a great job.You can only progress from here The main thing is to make the joints good and strong.I have gone back to dowels where I need them instead of biscuit joinery.and I have a nice chisel morticer and a tenoning dedicaTED saw which cuts all the tenons,for mortice and tenon joinery the best there is my 3 cents. kindest regards Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer

http://woodworking.about.com/od/finishing/p/LacquerFinishes.htm

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com